Survival of the Hottest: My Version
by E.M. Rosing
Summary: He loves me. He loves me not. He loves her. He loves her not. R&R


**Author's Note: Some part's get kinda cheesy.. Just so ya know.**

* * *

><p>It was hot as hell. And we were stuck; stuck in my giant toaster oven. We were baking. Even Jade, the ice queen, had begun to melt in the heat. She actually started sweating. We had been trapped all afternoon and we were dying. We sang, in dim hope of rescue. We sang in fear of death. Literally, we thought we would never escape. And then, the door opened and there was Cat, blissfully unaware of what the last few hours had been like for us. Her bright, cheery face turning to slight shock as we all barreled toward her, her shriek piercing the air. It was four and half hours late, but we finally got to the beach.<p>

We all began running like mad men towards the water and the waves. Even though it was four thirty in the afternoon it was still 92 degrees it out. Andre, Jade, Trina and Robbie (who had dropped Rex in the parking lot) stopped when they reached the shoreline. But Tori and I just kept running. I noticed her out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't help but stop and stare at her running and splashing through the waves. There was just something about her. I couldn't put my finger on it. She got out to where the water got knee high on her and she started picking up her knees to continue on. She kept going until she was waist high in water and then nose dived into the water, swimming on from there. Her head popped up a few meters farther out where she simply treaded water and floated, riding the waves, up and down. I hadn't noticed that I had kept moving unconsciously towards her until I was thigh high in water. I stopped and thought for a minute before continuing on in Tori's direction. I waded a little deeper into the water and then dove down beneath the surface. I made a few strokes before opening my eyes to see where I was. Most people couldn't stand the sting of the salt water in their eyes, but for me it was different. I had grown up on the beach; the ocean was a part of me. I loved every bit of it, from the salt that curled your hair to its beautiful blue green color. And besides, I'm too manly to mind a little salt in my eyes.

I kept swimming like that until I saw her legs come into view. I then swam a little deeper and crossed the last couple of yards that separated us. I began circling her feet slowly. When I was a little off to the side of her legs, I reached out and tickled the bottom of one of her feet. She jerked her legs back and then forward again, I narrowly dodged a kick. At this point I needed to come up for air. I broke above the surface of the water just a foot or so away from Tori. My sudden appearance resulted in a scream escaping Tori's throat.

"Oh my god, Beck!" she exclaimed. "Was that you?"

"No," I chuckled. "It was a sea monster."

In response I got a splash in the face and for a minute I was taken aback.

"This means war!" I bellowed.

I began to ferociously splash Tori, who, in return, splashed me back. Well that is until I disappeared below the surface of the water again. When my eyes adjusted I saw opportunity that was her gorgeously long legs. I decided to have a little fun. I swam around to her back side and sank down low enough to tickle the bottoms of her feet again. She began to lightly kick again, but she was no match for my dastardly plan. I continued running my fingers up the back and sides of her shins until I reached the ticklish spot on the inside of her knees. I fiercely ran my fingers on that exact spot until she started to lose her grip, she began to sink. I rose up as she fell and wrapped my right arm around her waist, holding her body against mine, pulling her up with me.

We both gasped for breath when we reached the water's surface. I only let her go when I knew for sure that she wouldn't slip again, but not before slyly adjusting her bikini bottom to reveal a little extra flesh from her _bottom_, which I gave a quick, sharp pinch, before rocketing backward and a few feet away from her. She yelped out and spun around it the water to face me.

"Beck!" she cried with a smile on her face.

"What?" I asked as innocently as I could muster.

"Oh, you're gonna get it!" she exclaimed.

"You'll have to catch me first," I chuckled.

I darted off into the water, swimming as fast as I could. I had hoped to leave Tori deserted alone in the middle of the ocean, searching for me, wondering where I could possibly be.

_Cue the Jaws theme! _I thought._ The tickle monster from the sea will strike again!_

I had just stopped swimming in time to see the giant wave headed towards Tori. With a wave like that, she would surely be sucked in by the undertow. I descended as quickly as possible into the water and started heading towards her.

* * *

><p>I stopped in my tracks, if that was even possible while swimming. I spun around several times looking for where Beck had gone to now. Certainly the under water tickle monster would return shortly. I spun another one hundred and eighty degrees, just in time to see Beck's head bobbing above the water about forty feet away. He seemed almost frozen except for the gentle up and down motion. He had a strange look of fear in his eyes.<p>

_That's funny, _I thought. _Beck never gets scared. _

I followed his gaze, turning my head to the right. My eyes were met with a huge wall of water headed towards me. I leapt forward to attempt to get away from the mountain of water as fast as I could, but it was too quick for me.

I was pulled under by the strong undertow. Water filled my nose and mouth. My legs were jerked out from under me. I tried to swim to the surface, but my legs were now above my head. I continued to choke on salt water. It was unbearable. I had no idea how long I had been under, but I was losing my will to fight. My head began to feel woozy; I knew I wasn't getting enough oxygen. I slipped just a little farther into the darkness.

Suddenly there were strong arms around me. I was safe. I could give up, and I did.

* * *

><p>I pulled Tori up to shore. She wasn't breathing. The first one to come up to us was Cat.<p>

"Hey Beck, look at this pot I made with my new friend, Guy!" she squealed.

"Not now!"

"What does that mean?"

"Tori is unconscious! She nearly drowned."

"Oh! Well good thing you saved her."

"What's going on?" asked Andre as he walked up to us.

"Tori's failing science," replied Cat.

"No!" I said. "She's unconscious, Cat. That means she's knocked out."

"Well then wake her up," she replied.

"Is she breathing?" asked Andre, concerned.

I bent my ear down by her mouth and watched her chest to see if there was any movement. There was none. She wasn't breathing.

"No," I said distressed.

"Hey guys!" shouted Robbie. He had retrieved Rex, because the puppet was now sitting in his usual position in Robbie's arms.

"Tori's not breathing!" burst Cat. She was now visibly worried about Tori.

"Oh come on, Tori!" said Rex. "That's no way to win an argument."

"No!" yelled Andre. "She almost drowned. She could have died!"

"Oh, shit," was all Rex could manage to reply.

"What's going on over here?" questioned Jade.

"Tori's not breathing!" cried Cat.

"Darn," said Jade, sarcastically.

"Jade!" I yelled.

"What?" she asked innocently surprised.

"That's not funny! Tori is in serious trouble!" I said realizing that Tori was in trouble and needed CPR.

"Shouldn't someone get help? Like a lifeguard?" asked Robbie.

"I'll go!" volunteered Cat.

"Okay!" said Andre, taking charge. "Does anyone know CPR?"

"I do," I said, raising my hand.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Jade. "You are not giving Tori or anyone besides me for that matter, mouth to mouth!"

"Jade!" I yelled loudly enough that she was taken back. "Now is not the time for your stupid jealously issues!"

"Beck is right," said Andre. "Tori could die." He turned back to me.

"Beck," he said. "You start giving Tori CPR. Jade… Go somewhere else."

"Fine!" she yelled and stomped down the beach.

I leaned down again to check for Tori breathing, but there was no luck, so I gently tilted her head back, plugged her nose and gave her two rescue breathes. With luck, the breathes went in, her chest rose and fell. I then began the thirty compressions.

"One and two and three and…" I breathed to myself.

"Robbie!" continued Andre.

"Reporting for duty!" Robbie saluted.

"Doody," chuckled Rex.

"Call for an ambulance!" commanded Andre.

"Okay!"

"Thirteen and fourteen…" I continued until I reached thirty. I then gave two more rescue breaths. I had gotten to fourteen more compressions when Tori came back to life, turning onto her side and then coughing up sea water. And then she threw up.

"Um, I have a weak stomach. Can you handle this one, buddy?" asked Andre, addressing me.

"Yeah, I got this one," I said patting Tori on the back while she continued gagging.

* * *

><p>I was dimly aware of an angel of some sort kissing me, and then pounding on my chest, and then kissing me again. Finally I was pulled into reality. I flopped onto my side and coughed up what seemed like buckets of burning water. And then I puked. I vaguely heard someone murmur something about a week stomach.<p>

_What's a week stomach? _I wondered to myself. _Is it a stomach that only lasts a week?_

And then there was a voice that said, "Yeah, I got this one." It sounded like Beck. There was a gentle, but manly, hand patting my back.

I turned and seeing that it was in fact Beck, sat down.

"You okay, kid?" he asked, still patting my back.

"Yeah," I croaked. "What happened?"

"You nearly drowned," he said, half smiling.

"I know that," I said, rolling my eyes. "I mean, how was I saved?"

"Oh," he said dully. "I pulled you to shore and gave you mouth to mouth. The others are going to get help."

"Oh." Now it was my turn to sound dull. "I bet Jade wasn't too happy about you giving me mouth to mouth."

He winced for an instant and then relaxed again.

"She understood the importance of the situation."

Something in his voice told me he was lying.

Suddenly Cat rushed up to us with a life guard in tow.

"This is the girl," she said pointing to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, urgently.

"Peachy."

"Does anything hurt?"

"My head is spinning a little, but that's it."

"That's normal from not having oxygen. Here's some water," he said handing me a bottle of water. "Has anyone called an ambulance?"

"Yes," said Robbie, just returning. "They're on their way."

"Am I gonna have to go the hospital?" I asked, concerned. I hated hospitals, especially after giving blood for Robbie. Beck chuckled next to me.

"Probably not," said the lifeguard. "They're just gonna want to check you out to make sure you're okay."

I breathed I sigh of relief. Beck chuckled again.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Trina came running up.

"Oh my god!" she screeched. "What's going on here?" she asked, staring at the lifeguard with her mouth open.

"Tori almost drowned," said Cat in her innocent air. "But she's alright now."

"Where have you been?" questioned Beck.

"Shopping in town for a new purse; Robbie threw up in mine, remember?"

"Oh, don't worry about little ol' me." I said. "I only almost died."

"What?" Trina screeched again.

"I had to give your sister CPR," said Beck, nonchalantly.

"Oh my god!" screeched Trina yet again, dropping to her knees beside me. "My baby sister almost died!" she said hugging my head against her boobs.

"Ow, Trina," came my muffled voice.

"Oh my poor, poor, sister!" she exclaimed, now rocking back and forth. "Mom and dad would have killed me if you died!"

"I know."

"Don't ever scare me like that again!"

I attempted to say, "Let me go," but it came out wrong, ya know, with my head berried in Trina's boobs and everything. Beck found it extremely hysterical and started clutching his stomach as he laughed until he cried.

"What'd she say?" asked Trina.

"She said, 'lemegf'," explained Cat.

"Well what does that mean?" questioned Trina.

"She said, 'let me go,' you idiots!" exclaimed Rex. "And people call me a dummy."

"Oh," said Trina, releasing my head.

* * *

><p>The paramedics came shortly after the lifeguard did. Everyone fussed and watched over Tori, so I knew she was safe. Jade still hadn't returned so I went down the beach in the direction she had run off to. I found her sitting on a rock bridge that went a few feet into the ocean. It was sunset and the scenery was beautiful, she was beautiful with her body silhouetted against the orange sky, but there was something nagging in the back of my mind.<p>

"Hey," I said coming up behind her.

"Hey," she said standing quickly, brushing her thumbs under her eyes, probably in hopes that I wouldn't see.

"Listen," I said quietly. She turned around to face me a little too quickly. She lost her balance on the slippery rocks and fell into the water. Her head came up quickly in the semi-shallow water. She and I both were gasping for breath, her because, well, she had just fell into four feet of water and me because I was laughing so hard.

"It's not funny!" she yelled.

"Yes it is," I said still laughing.

She made an aggravated noise and attempted to walk to the shore, but slipped again. This time I jumped down from the rocks and into the water with her. She came up gasping again and then noticed me. I was only about knee deep in water, but she was on her butt, so she was up to her chin. She stood up and began to stomp away, this time watching her footing.

"Oh no, you don't!" I said grabbing her around the waist.

"Let go!"

"Make me," I said pulling her in to me. She tried to shove away from me but I had her tight in my arms. Her mascara was running down her face and she just looked so angry and so cute. I kissed her, right there, knee deep in water and she kissed me back, but very tentatively. I deepened the kiss, licking her bottom lip with my tongue and then sliding it into her half-opened mouth. We French kissed for a while, but then she pulled away from me.

"You taste weird," she said.

Her words made something in the back of my mind flash on, but I brushed it off. I simple looked at her, laughed, and then picked her up wedding style and started walking towards shore.

"No, really," she said staring at me. "You taste _different._ And not in a good way."

"Well let me think," I replied, teasing. "What have I had to eat today? It could be the salt from the water."

"No, I think it's from Tori," she said Tori's name harshly.

I stopped dead it my tracks and just started at her. For a moment I couldn't even think. I slowly set Jade down and continued to just look at her. And then I continued walking, I wasn't having this conversation. Not now at least.

"Wait a minute, Mister!" she said coming after me.

"What, Jade? What do you want with me?" I yelled.

"You can't just kiss other girls!" she exclaimed.

"Jade! That wasn't kissing, that was breaths to save her life. That's why they're called _rescue breaths._"

"I don't care! It was mouth on mouth and that's not okay!"

"I can't believe you right now! You're mad at me when you should be calling me a hero for saving _someone's life_!"

"Not just _someone, _Beck! _Tori_!"

"What the hell does that mean?" I demanded.

"I see the way you look at her! I see how happy you are whenever you get paired with her for an assignment! Don't think I don't know about your widdle cwush on Towi!" she said, becoming overly dramatic.

"I don't know what you mean." I stated.

"Oh I think you do," she said stomping away. "Oh! And you better get over it soon, buddy!"

I stood there for I don't know how long, just breathing. I clasped my hands and cradled my head with them. I couldn't believe this had happened. I knew that Jade had her jealously issues, but to this point? At the same time, it was very foreseeable. I mulled it over in my mind. What should I do? Does she really think I have a _crush _on _Tori_? Do I have a crush on Tori? I shook the questions out of my mind, took a deep breath, and headed back to the group.

* * *

><p>Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. Jade had come storming up the beach, alone, shooting me daggers.<p>

"Hey!" called Robbie after her. "Where's Beck?"

Jade turned, picked up a near by rock and chucked it at Robbie, which he narrowly dodged. She then screamed and turned right back around and stomped towards the truck.

_Where is Beck? _I wondered to myself. It was getting dark and the ambulance had left telling me to just get lots of fluids. I sat there with a towel wrapped around my shoulders and around the towel Andre had his arm slung around my waist, hugging the towel just a little tighter around my body. Cat was sitting next to me and Trina was flirting with the lifeguard, while Robbie and Rex bantered back and forth to themselves. Or was Robbie just talking to himself?

"And then," blurted Cat. "He and I made a pot! See!"

"What?" I said, losing my train of thought.

"I said Guy and I made a pot," she said holding the pot like a trained model.

"Oh, very nice," I replied slowly.

"Wait," piped up Andre. "The guy's name was Guy?"

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed Cat.

I spotted Beck walking up the beach towards us. He looked like he had something on his mind and from the way Jade stormed up the beach I could only imagine what had happened. He stopped directly in front of me.

"You feeling better, kid?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine," I replied.

"Ready to go?" he asked, staring down at me. No one else answered, so I assumed he was addressing me.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go," he said, offering his hand to help me up. I took it and he pulled me up as if I were something delicate, the whole time his brown eyes staring into mine.

_Holy shit, _I thought while fireworks went off in my stomach. I must have faltered a little bit because he put his free hand on my waist to steady me.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Perfect."

"You're one hundred percent positive?" this time he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but I wasn't quite sure until he cracked a smile.

"Yes," I laughed.

"Great, let's go."

* * *

><p>Everyone was waiting outside of the trailer for Cat to emerge to tell us whether or not Jade was riding with me or with them.<p>

"She's going home in the trailer," said Cat.

"Great," I replied.

"That's mean," said Cat.

"He was being sarcastic," explained Andre.

"Ohh," she said, taking it in.

"So, who's riding up front with Beck?" asked Rex.

"Who wants to?" I asked.

The entire group erupted with "Ooo! Me" and raised hands.

"I'm thinking of a number," I started.

"41!" shouted Cat.

"Yes," I said, surprised. "How'd you know?"

Cat just shrugged her shoulders with a dangerous grin.

Once everyone was settled in the back, Cat and I climbed up in the truck and we headed back to L.A.

"And then Guy and I made a pot!" exclaimed Cat, showing her me her pot.

"That's a really nice pot, Cat," I said honestly.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, a smile brightening her face. "So," she said flatly.

"So?"

"What's Jade upset about?"

"Well, er, um.."

"It's okay, you can tell me."

"I know, I just.."

"I'm a great listener," she said batting her thick eyelashes at me. God she was cute, but in a little sister kind of way.

"Okay," I said giving in. "She was upset that I gave Tori mouth to mouth."

"Did she want to save Tori?"

"No, she was jealous. The thing she doesn't seem to grasp is that CPR isn't romantic, at all. It's saving someone's life."

"Yeah."

"She's so jealous all the time. I just can't take. She always thinks I wanna be with other girls or that I like other girls. I used to think it was cute, but now she's taking it too far."

"Mmhhmm"

"She doesn't realize that if I wanted to be with another girl, I wouldn't be with her. It can be really annoying sometimes."

"Of course."

"And she can be so mean. I mean really cruel. Like today when she wasn't worried at all about Tori and just said 'darn' when she heard Tori had nearly drowned. I mean, that's not okay, right?"

"Right."

"And then when I went after her, we were kissing and she said I tasted bad and blamed it on Tori!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"And then she accused me of having a crush on Tori!"

"Do you?"

"What?" I turned to look at her.

"Do you like Tori?"

I paused for a minute.

_Is she really asking me that? _I thought. _Of course I don't li- Wait. Do I? _

"Well?" prodded Cat, pulling me back to attention.

"Well, she's attractive and she's a friend, but she's special."

"How could you say that about Tori!" Cat suddenly yelled.

"What did I say wrong?"

"You called her retarded!"

"No! Not special like that! Special as in special to me."

"Awww! So you do like her?"

"Well, er," I said running my hand through my hair. "As a friend?"

"I can keep a secret," she said poking me in the side.

"I care about her and I want her to be happy and I like seeing her smile and I don't wanna hurt her, okay?"

Cat beamed at me from the other seat.

"But then there's Jade, who I've been with for so long and I really care about her too and she's frustrating and makes me wanna pull my hair out, but I would never want to break her heart. I want her to be happy too. But sometimes I just can't.." I trailed off.

"Are you happy?"

"Well, sometimes."

"What about most of the time?"

"No," I said truthfully.

"Have you ever considered that maybe she's not happy being this jealous all the time?"

"No," I said, thinking.

"Do you want my opinion?"

"Yes."

"I think that you guys care about each other and love each other very much, but it's obvious that your relationship has some major issues. I think that the reason you two have stayed together for so long is that you're both too scared to take a chance on finding something else that could really make you happy. I think it's time to let go. For both of your sakes."

"Ya know, you can be really smart sometimes, Cat."

"I know!" she said with a large grin.

Soon enough we were back at my house. I parked the truck and trailer and everyone disembarked.

"GOTTA PEE!" screamed Cat, running into my house.

We all chilled and talked for a bit while everyone waited for rides. Andre was the first to leave.

"Bye guys," he said. "Bye Tori." I felt a pang in my stomach as he gave her a goodbye hug. Shortly afterwards, Cat returned from the bathroom.

"I feel better!" she said. "Where's Andre?"

"You just missed him," said Tori.

"Oh no! Hey Tori?"

"Yeah Cat?"

"My parents are in bed this time of night, can I get a ride home?"

"You can sleep over if you want."

"Okay! I'll leave my parents a text!"

"Okay, my mom is on a business trip and my dad is leaving tomorrow afternoon to do some training drills."

"That's okay!"

"Hey, tomorrow's Saturday," said Tori turning to Jade and I. "Why don't you and Andre come over? And Jade too!"

"No thanks," said Jade.

"I'll be there," I replied.

"Well okay," said Trina. "Our ride is here. Bye."

"Bye guys!" yelled Cat.

"Bye Beck, bye Jade," said Tori.

"Meh," said Jade.

"Bye," I said waving.

When their car pulled away and had turned the corner I turned to Jade.

"We need to talk."


End file.
